Workshop Wonders

This year I’ve taught a handful of upholstery workshops and I have to tell you they’re totally energizing. Of course my students run the gamut of people who’ve never really had any hands-on experience in anything DIY to professionals in related fields.

So now for a little show and tell time. This is Alan and Rachel. They are professional designers with degrees in fashion, graphic design and industrial design. Rachel took my ottoman workshop which I recommend for most people just getting their feet wet with upholstery. Turns out she really didn’t need it with her background in industrial design. Alan joined us for the beginning upholstery workshop and they brought a pretty advanced chair and matching ottoman that they worked on together.

The chair they brought was a mid century modern gem. Made in Sweden, the Dux chair they bought at an antique mall was worth reupholstering but the foam needed to be completely replaced. Here it is deconstructed. No turning back now!

It took 3 sessions to finish the chair and ottoman, but together with their teamwork and attention to detail, this was a very successful first upholstery project! Their first serious piece of furniture requires a serious pose with it, don’t you think?

3 thoughts on “Workshop Wonders”

Lezlee — if your daughter is close to Austin, there is great place called Spruce that offers upholstery workshops. http://www.spruceaustin.comThe girls there are too cute for words. If she goes,have her tell them I sent her — I'm trying to get them to remember me 😉 ! They have a very similar vibe as me.Thanks for all your encouraging comments too! Love it!

I would love to take an upholstery class. I live in the SF Bay Area. Do you know of any good places? I have an issue with paying other people to upholster my pieces I want for my home, but then two things happen, they either sit with a sheet over them for years, (exhibit A, the chair in my husbands, office, the couch in my master broom), or they sit in all their yukky fabric glory, clashing with the other things in my LR. Exhibit B, the lovely wing back chair residing in the corner. When I finally get to them, it takes me so long to figure it out, my life comes to a standstill for months. That is the ugly truth.